‘Grace Unplugged,’ Starring AJ Michalka and James Denton

Grace Unplugged

A J Michalka as a searching pop singer in “Grace Unplugged.”Credit
Roadside Attractions

A J Michalka, the star of “Grace Unplugged,” used to record with her sister in the teen-pop duo Aly and A J. (They now perform as 78Violet.) The songs were sturdy, melodic and espoused wholesome self-reliance. Aly went on to embody female independence in the charming film “Bandslam” and the TV series “Hellcats.” A J, alas, has succumbed to “Grace Unplugged,” which feels like a religious tract more than a movie.

The 18-year-old Grace Trey (Ms. Michalka) has had it with playing inspirational songs with her father, Johnny (James Denton), in their Birmingham, Ala., church. Johnny is a one-hit wonder who had an alcoholic fall from grace before renouncing the music industry’s wicked ways. But Grace, who ignores her parents’ encouragement to attend college, watches the prurient video for “Up in Flames” by her idol, Renae Taylor (Kelly Thiebaud); skips a church youth-group meeting to see a movie; and, worst of all, leaves her Bible in the car. “You know it’s sin,” Johnny says. “Is that how we raised you?”

Grace skips off to Los Angeles to join Frank Moston (a k a Mossy), Johnny’s former manager, who concocts a hit for her, a cover of her dad’s classic, “Misunderstood.” A montage reveals the city’s monuments to fallen virtue: the Capitol Records building, the nightclubs the Whisky a Go Go and the Rainbow. And Grace encounters scurrilous influences who want to exploit her. Pressure mounts. “She’s in your hands now,” her father says despairingly, looking upward.

Thank heavens for the label intern Quentin (Michael Welch), who’s read the book “Own It: Discover Your Faith in God” four times. “I think maybe you’re fighting God,” he tells her. And with that, she apologizes to her father; hugs her parents’ pastor; marries Quentin; and re-embraces a presumably male deity. “One big happy family,” she mutters onstage, with faint but telling sarcasm. And that is a blessing.